Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Northeast Florida Crime Rate Drops, Especially In Putnam, St. Johns Counties

Tex Texin / Flickr
/
Flickr

Florida’s crime rate continues to drop. Florida Department of Law Enforcement data show a 2.2 percent decrease between the first half of last year and the first half of this year.

And the drop in crime was much larger in a couple of Northeast Florida counties. 

Putnam County had more than 28 percent less crime in 2015 than during the same period a year earlier. The county had about half the amount of robberies, as well as significantly fewer burglaries and larcenies. Putnam’s rate dropped despite a near doubling in the number of rapes and murders, but those were relatively tiny numbers.

St. Johns County also saw a sharp crime rate drop of more than 19 percent, with across-the-board decreases in every category except murder.

Meanwhile Clay and Nassau counties also saw drops of about 8 percent and about 7 percent, respectively.

And Duval County’s crime rate changed the least, with a drop of just over 1 percent. 

Jessica Palombo supervises local news gathering and production, podcasts and web editorial content for WJCT News, ADAPT and Jacksonville Today. She is an award-winning writer and journalist with bylines including NPR, Experience Magazine, and The Gainesville Sun. She has a master’s degree in broadcast and digital journalism from Syracuse University and is an alumna of the University of Florida. A nearly lifelong resident of Jacksonville, she considers herself lucky to be raising her own children in her hometown. Follow Jessica Palombo on Twitter: @JaxJessicaP